Active Passive Voice

PASSIVE VOICE
for Communication Skills

Course of Diploma 1st year
By-Dr. Swati Shrivastava
DR.Swati Shrivastava
ACTIVE VOICE
Our usual pattern of sentence emphasizes the
SUBJECT or the doer (actor).
He threw the ball.
Noun(subject)– verb (Active voice)- Noun(object)
N(S) - verb(act) - N(O)
He gave me a book.
PASSIVE VOICE
Emphasizes the action or the verb activity.
• He threw the ball.
• The ball was thrown (by him). --Passive
• He gave me a book. --Active
• A book was given to me. -- Passive

• I was given a book. -- Passive
Can we change any sentence into
passive ?
• No, sentences with intransitive verbs
can not be changed into passive.
• Only sentences with transitive verbs
can be changed into passive.
• Perfect continuous tenses & Future
continuous tense- Passive not used
TRANSITIVE VERB
TRANSITIVE VERB
Verbs with object. Object receives the action.
Effect of action is transferred from Subject to Object.
Please bring coffee. Please bring him to me.
To know the object of the verb --

Ask the VERB -- WHAT? or WHOM?
The answer you get is the object.
The verb is a TRANSITIVE VERB.
TRANSITIVE VERB -Examples
My family enjoys football.
He gave me a pen yesterday.
He invited all the friends to his birthday party.
I have written a letter.
Someone has stolen my pen.
examples
eat, drink, write, read, play, draw, watch, post,
delivered, give, tell, wash, catch, find, send
INTRANSITIVE VERB
INTRANSITIVE VERB
verbs without object or
verbs in which the action from subject is not
transferred to the object.
To know the object of the verb--
ASK VERB - WHAT? or WHOM?
The answer you get is the object. If you do not
get any answer it is an INTRANSITIVE VERB.
INTRANSITIVE VERB -Examples
He ran very fast.
The child sleeps under the tree.
My father walks four miles every day.
Everybody laughed over the comedy.
A guard stands at the College gate.
Examples:
Weep, sit, cry, go, come, return, arrive, work,
talk, live, jump, shine, die
PASSIVE VOICE IS USED :
• The subject is not important in the sentence.
• It is not necessary to mention the subject.
• No meaningful information is contained in
the subject.
• Speaker is interested in the verb activity not
in the active subject.
• There is no question of responsibility or
accountability or reward or punishment.
Active Passive
N1 - verb(act)- N2 N2- verb(pass)- {byN1}
(subject) (object) (subject) (agent)
1. Find Object of the Verb Object becomes the Subject

Ask Verb- What/Whom?
2. Find verb Change the verb into 3rd

form and use helping verb as
per the new subject. (Tense remains
the same)
3.Find out if Subject can be
omitted or it is needed to Subject is mentioned as agent
complete the meaning? only if necessary.
Changing Object to Subject
SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE
I me my , mine
we us our, ours
you you your, yours
he him his
she her her, hers
they them their, theirs
it it its
who whom whose
Changing into Passive- verb throw
throw is/am/are thrown
threw was/were thrown
shall/will throw shall / will be thrown
is/ am are throwing is/am/are being thrown
was/were throwing was/were being thrown
has/have thrown has/have been thrown
had thrown had been thrown
shall /will have thrown shall/will have been thrown
Simple Present
draw is/am/are drawn
People always admire his paintings.
People speak English all over the world.
Passive:
His paintings are always admired.
English is spoken all over the world.
Simple Past
drew was/were drawn
• He hurt his leg in an accident.
• They invited me to give a talk on participative
management.
• The enquiry committee held the police responsible for the
stampede.
PASSIVE:
• His leg was hurt in an accident.
• I was invited to give a talk on participative management.
• The police was held responsible for the stampede.
Simple Future
will/shall draw will/shall be drawn
• People will forget this incident in a few
years.
• We shall discuss the matter tomorrow.
PASSIVE:
• This incident will be forgotten in a few
years.
• The matter will be discussed tomorrow.
Present Continuous Tense
is/am/are drawing is/am/are being drawn
Workers are repairing the school building.

The committee is reconsidering the decision.
PASSIVE:
The school building is being repaired.
The decision is being reconsidered.
Past Continuous Tense
was /were drawing was/were being drawn
They were decorating the stage for inauguration.

People were enjoying the show.
PASSIVE:
The stage was being decorated for inauguration.
The show was being enjoyed.
Present Perfect
has/have drawn has/have been drawn
The committee has prepared the detailed plan of the

project.
He has done all the problems of this exercise.
PASSIVE:
The detailed plan of the project has been prepared.
All the problems of this exercise have been solved.
Past Perfect
had drawn had been drawn
No one had informed me about the party.

They had repaired all the machines timely.
PASSIVE:
I had not been informed about the party.
All the machines had been repaired timely.
Future Perfect Tense
Will/shall have drawn Will/shall have been drawn
The painter will have painted this picture by 5p.m.

They will have completed the construction work before July.
PASSIVE:
This picture will have been painted by 5 p.m.
The construction work will have been completed before July.
When the object is infinitive or clause…
When the object in the active voice is an

infinitive or a clause , the sentence in the
Passive voice begins with ‘it’.
The artisan decided to report the matter to the
supervisor. ( active)
It was decided to report the matter to the
supervisor. ( passive)
Introductory ‘It’
People say......... It is said that....
People say that tortoises live longer than elephants.
It is said that tortoises live longer than elephants.

Or Tortoises are said to live longer than elephants.
The scientists believe that there is no life on Mars.

It is believed that there is no life on Mars.
Prepositions and adverbial particles are
combined with verbs in passive form
N1 Vact Prep.N2 -> N2 Vpass P
We shall have to go into the matter. (active)
The matter will have to be gone into. (passive)
The Govt. has given up the project to build the road.

(active)
The project to build the road has been given up by
the Govt.. (passive)
May, might, must, ought to
• He may lock his house.
• His house may be locked.
• The committee might approve the proposal this week.

• The proposal might be approved this week.
• Somebody must finish the work.

• The work must be finished.
• People ought to take care of old people.

• Old people ought to be taken care of.
Can, could, shall, should
• No one can answer your question.
• Your question can not be answered.
• They could do it easily.

• It could be done easily.
• The publisher should publish the new edition soon.

• The new edition should be published soon.
• We shall take care of this issue.

• This issue will be taken care of.
When the verb in active voice takes two objects ;
there are two types of passive transformations.
N1 Vact N2 N3 -> N2 Vpass N3

N3 Vpass Prep. N2
He taught me Phonetics at the University. ( Active)
I was taught Phonetics at the University. ( passive)
Phonetics was taught to me at the University.
(passive)
Special sentences - Imperative
Draw Let –be--drawn
• Post this letter. • Let this letter be posted.
• Let this painting be hanged

• Hang this painting on
on the wall.
the wall.
• Thank God. • Let God be thanked. or

• God should be thanked.
When the subject is essential in the passive for
complete meaning use ‘by’
• Her beauty struck me • I was deeply struck by
deeply. her beauty.
• My presence • He was surprised by

surprised him. my presence.
• His confidence • He was motivated by

motivated him to find his confidence to find
a solution. a solution.
USE PASSIVE VOICE PURPOSEFULLY AND
SMARTLY TO WIN FRIENDS AND PEOPLE.
• It was such an expensive • The watch is lost. It was an
watch. You have lost it. expensive one.
• You have broken one glass. • Oh! Its broken. Are you
It was my imported set of injured ?? It was my
glassware. imported set .........
• Post this letter. • Let this letter be posted. or

• This letter needs to be
posted urgently.
• Lay the table. • Let the table be laid.
THANKS
swatiamogh2008@gmail.com

Active Passive Voice

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Active Passive Voice

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PASSIVE VOICE

for Communication Skills

• He gave me a book. --Active

• A book was given to me. -- Passive

Please bring coffee. Please bring him to me.

To know the object of the verb --

1. Find Object of the Verb Object becomes the Subject

2. Find verb Change the verb into 3rd

People speak English all over the world.

His paintings are always admired.

English is spoken all over the world.

Workers are repairing the school building.

They were decorating the stage for inauguration.

The committee has prepared the detailed plan of the

No one had informed me about the party.

The painter will have painted this picture by 5p.m.

When the object in the active voice is an

People say that tortoises live longer than elephants.

It is said that tortoises live longer than elephants.

The scientists believe that there is no life on Mars.

The Govt. has given up the project to build the road.

• The committee might approve the proposal this week.

• Somebody must finish the work.

• People ought to take care of old people.

• They could do it easily.

• The publisher should publish the new edition soon.

• We shall take care of this issue.

N1 Vact N2 N3 -> N2 Vpass N3

• Let this painting be hanged

• Thank God. • Let God be thanked. or

• My presence • He was surprised by

• His confidence • He was motivated by

• Post this letter. • Let this letter be posted. or

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